Clubmark works for us! - Clubmark - LIVING SPORT

Clubmark works for us!

Papworth Junior Badminton Club has really benefited from Clubmark which has helped them go from strength to strength.

The Club was set up in early 2003 on a single court in the Village Hall with 15 players and some adult helpers, but no coach. The club realised they needed a qualified coach and one adult trained to be a Level 2 Coach. This improved the skills of the existing club members and also enabled the club to reach out into the community to attract more players.

Registration of the club with Badminton England gave access to outside expertise and the club were encouraged to work towards securing Clubmark status. Once the decision to go for Clubmark was taken the application was prepared over ten evenings using Badminton and Sport England Clubmark templates. The Club achieved the Premier (previously Silver) Clubmark status in March 2006.

Helped by their Clubmark status the Club has raised over £10,000, from Cambridgeshire Young Lives, Cambridgeshire Grass Roots Small Grants and South Cambridgeshire District Council Sports Development Fund. This funding enabled additional outreach throughout Cambridgeshire, extra rackets for junior players, safety equipment, work at the school and coach training. 

The Club now plays at the local primary school hall as well as in the Village Hall and membership has increased to 40 juniors and 20 adult helpers. The club has enabled fifteen coaches to qualify at Level 1 and Level 2 and most of these coaches will be starting, or have started, new junior Badminton clubs or related activities throughout Cambridgeshire. The Club also runs the Annual Badminton England Junior Helper Award courses.

Successful Clubmark accreditation raised the Club’s profile in Cambridgeshire and helped to increase membership and interest in the Club as well as enabling them to support other clubs. They would encourage other clubs to take advantage of Clubmark and the benefits it brings.

For more information please contact Steve Hoath at sdh35@cam.ac.uk

For examples of good Clubmark practise please see the resources below.

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